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Recently asked questions relating to Great Shelford leasehold conveyancing

My fiance and I may need to rent out our Great Shelford garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Great Shelford conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Great Shelford do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

I have recently realised that I have Sixty One years remaining on my lease in Great Shelford. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Great Shelford.

Expecting to complete next month on a studio apartment in Great Shelford. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Great Shelford should include some of the following:

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
  • The total extent of the property. This will be the flat itself but may incorporate a roof space or cellar if appropriate.
  • You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Great Shelford please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Great Shelford

    • I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Great Shelford which have approximately forty five years remaining on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

    A lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

    Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Great Shelford with the aim of expediting the sale process?

    • Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Great Shelford can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
    • If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Great Shelford state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Where you fail to have the consents in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.
  • Some Great Shelford leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
  • If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Great Shelford conveyancing deal. If a duplicate share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

    • Great Shelford Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

      Make sure you find out if the the lease contains any unreasonable restrictions in the lease. For instance plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Great Shelford. If you love the apartmentin Great Shelford yet your dog can’t live with you then you will be faced difficult determination. Where a Great Shelford lease has fewer than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the value of the flat. Check with your lender that they are content with the length of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the property for two years in order to be eligible to carry out a lease extension. How many years are left on the lease?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Great Shelford